


Restaurant At the End of the Universe

by daisyisawriter91



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Vessels, Cain (Supernatural) is Sad, Childhood Sweethearts, Former Lovers - Freeform, M/M, Michael (Supernatural) has Issues, Michael Eats Human Food, Pie and Feelings, Sadness, diner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 18:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13530342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisyisawriter91/pseuds/daisyisawriter91
Summary: Michael comes to a certain diner in Middle of Nowhere Missouri and meets an old friend.





	Restaurant At the End of the Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Michael's 1979 vessel FC is Tim Rozon.

This was Michael’s favorite place to come. It felt so far removed from everything. And sometimes he needed that.  
He’d decided to come down from Heaven in the year 1979, to celebrate. His true vessel had been born, and he thought the treat of human food would be a good way to honor the occasion.  
Michael found a willing vessel in a fisherman named Joey. He was a bit taller than average, with slight facial hair and blue eyes. There was a slight tan on his skin from being outside so long. He had been wearing a flannel and jeans when Michael landed, and Michael saw no reason to change.  
Michael was in a packed diner in the middle of Missouri. The nearest town in any direction was at least an hour. This diner was the midway point between all of them.  
He sat in a booth by himself, a coffee and a slice of apple pie in front of him. He’d already devoured a burger. He didn’t need the food, but he found he enjoyed the occasional indulgence. Especially on such a momentous day.  
His true vessel’s name was Dean. A strong name for the strong man he would become. Michael couldn’t be more pleased with him.  
“May I sit with you?” A voice interrupted Michael’s thoughts.  
Michael looked up to see a face he never thought he’d see again. Blue eyes, gray hair, almost exactly as Michael remembered him, if in modern clothing. It was Cain, in the flesh.  
“Cain.” Michael said, forcing himself to hide his surprise. Cain gave a small smile.  
“Hello, Michael. Surprised to see me?” Cain asked.  
“It would not do to cause a scene.” Michael ignored the question.  
“I didn’t come here to fight. I came here to eat. Imagine my surprise when I found the oldest Archangel beat me to it.” Cain said. “May I sit?” He repeated. Michael nodded and Cain sat across from him.  
The waitress came by and politely asked for Cain’s order. He ordered a coffee and a stack of pancakes. When she left, Michael turned all his attention onto his new company.  
“Why are you here, Cain?”  
“Because I like this diner. They make excellent pancakes. And as to why I’m sitting with you, well…there’s not exactly anywhere else to sit. Besides, it’s better to eat with people you know.” Cain answered, leaning casually back into his seat. “What brings you to this little corner of the world?” Michael was silent, appraising Cain, carefully. “Come on. Indulge me for a while. We’ve got nowhere to go, and all the time in the world.”  
Michael sighed, giving in. “My true vessel was born today. He is healthy and strong. He will be great when the day comes.” He said, finally.  
“Congratulations. Is this the true vessel you’re going to be using for the end of the world?” Cain asked, eyebrow raised. Michael hung his head and sighed, giving Cain his answer. “Excellent. How long do I have to prepare for this?”  
“It’s going to happen in thirty-one years, thereabouts.” Michael answered.  
“I see. And how do you feel about this?”  
“It is what my father ordered, so it shall be done.” Michael said.  
“That isn’t what I asked. How do you feel about it?” Cain persisted.  
“I have no feelings.”  
“Well, that’s a steaming pile of shit.” Cain said, bluntly.   
“Pardon?”  
“You have feelings. Don’t you remember? Before this mark on my arm?” Cain rolled up his sleeve, showing Michael the Mark that still made him feel hollow. “It’s been eons, but I will never forget that time.”  
“I am sorry about Colette.” Michael changed the subject. “Her Heaven is a peaceful place. She is happy and safe.” He assured. Cain’s eyes took on a wistful look.  
“I’m glad. She deserved better than me. I suppose she finally got it.” Cain mumbled.  
They fell silent when the waitress came back with a fresh stack of pancakes and steaming black coffee. She set both of them in front of Cain and smiled when he thanked her.   
“After all this time, have you truly not forgotten?” Michael finally asked, unsure what he wanted the answer to be. If he even wanted an answer at all.  
“It plays constantly in my memory. On a loop with my time with Colette. I’ve only ever been in love with two people, Michael, and you were one of them.” Cain said.  
Michael gave no reply, he simply took a sip of his coffee. He didn’t taste it. He never did.   
“I can’t believe that you didn’t feel the same for me, at one point or another. I just can’t believe it, even if it’s right.” Cain said, taking a bite of his pancakes. “Oh, come on, Michael. For someone who talks a lot, you’re being awfully quiet when it comes to talking about feelings. But you don’t have feelings, do you? You’re an angel.”  
“I’m an Archangel.” Michael corrected. “And, Cain…it was the folly of youth, but I _did_ care for you.”  
He remembered many nights spent with Cain in the young man’s dreams. That was how they’d spent time together, as there were not yet many humans to give Michael a vessel. Michael would sometimes secretly inhabit Cain’s body and follow him throughout the day. They were some of Michael’s best memories, as well as being a family with Lucifer.  
“You’re using the past tense.” Cain pointed out, taking another bite of his food.  
“The mark twisted you. It brought me to my senses. An Archangel and a human is sacrilegious enough. An Archangel and a demon? It was never meant to be.” Michael admitted, quietly. “I am a good soldier. I can tolerate no more interactions with one of you creatures.” He said, half-heartedly. “I must get back to Heaven.”   
Michael stood, left thirty dollars on the table, and walked out of the diner.

 

Two hours, and it’d all be over. Two hours, and Michael would fight Lucifer. And one of two things would happen. Michael would win, and he’d rule Heaven, unable to go back to Earth. Or he’d lose, and die.  
Either way, these were his last two hours on Earth. And he knew exactly where he wanted to spend them and who with.  
The diner was silent when Michael arrived, only workers inside. He sat at a booth, the same as the one in 1979, and he waited. He didn’t wait for long.  
Five minutes, and Cain was walking inside. Without a word, he settled into the booth, across from Michael. His hair was shorter than it had been in ’79. but he looked unchanged otherwise. Like Michael remembered, even before the Mark.  
“This is the end, isn’t it?” Cain asked, obviously knowing the answer.  
“Not for you. But for me.” Michael amended. “I am to fight my brother. And no matter the outcome, I will never come back here again.” Michael said, using the voice of Adam Milligan. It wasn’t his true vessel, but he would function.  
Cain nodded, solemnly. He didn’t say anything, so Michael went first.  
“I lied. The last time we were here together, I lied. I said I used to care for you. That I had been brought to my senses.” Michael began. He had nothing left to lose. All of his brothers and sisters in Heaven were out and about, preparing for the Apocalypse. They wouldn’t pay attention. Besides, lying tainted a being’s soul. And though Michael did not have a soul, he felt he should carry the lesson with him. “I care for you, Cain. And there is no one I would rather spend my last hours with than you.”  
“I see…” Cain said.  
“I am sorry I abandoned you so callously. It broke my heart, as I have heard the humans say.” Michael confessed. “You deserved Colette. She was a bright soul, with an abundance of kindness. You deserve that.”  
Cain didn’t answer for a long moment.  
“Is this vessel…Dean?” Cain asked.  
“No. His half-brother, Adam Milligan.” Michael answered.  
“I preferred the other one on you. What was his name?”  
“Joey.”  
Cain hummed, noncommittally, and looked out the window. It had begun to rain.  
“Not a day has passed that I’ve gone without thinking of you.” Cain finally said. “You never forget your first love. I loved Colette to the ends of the universe, I would’ve given anything for her. But I would for you, too. Is there anything I could do to…to stop this?” Cain gestured to their surroundings, attempting to convey his meaning. He conveyed it well.  
“No. It has already been set in motion. I cannot stop it, not now.” Michael replied. Cain sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “I am truly sorry, Cain. For everything.”  
“I’ve lived a long time, Michael. I’ve learned to forgive you.” Cain countered.  
“I have perhaps two hours to spend. My time remaining on this Earth. Will you spend it with me?”  
Cain’s answer came in the form of an order for pancakes.

 

Cain had attuned himself to Michael’s presence on the Earth, focusing on it as hard as he could. He felt the exact moment it disappeared. It didn’t die, neither did the world. It just… _vanished_. And to Cain, that was worse. He had no idea whether to mourn or search or stay put.  
He found himself going back to the diner every so often, hoping he’d feel Michael’s presence reappear, maybe in a new vessel. It never happened, and Cain was left eating alone.  
And sometimes, in the dead of night, when he pretended to sleep, he prayed. Imagine that. A demon, the first of them, praying to the first Archangel. But Cain didn’t care.  
No matter what had happened to Michael, Cain knew he would never forget his Archangel. The one he’d loved as much as Colette. And he’d never forget their final hours together, at the diner they’d made their own.


End file.
